Heated Nights And Dark Shadows
by Princess Cherry Blossom
Summary: Natsu and Lucy head out on a mission to take down a brothel that forces girls into prostitution. In order to succeed, Lucy has to infiltrate the brothel as a prostitute. But when a certain dragon slayer's possessive instincts kick in and all kinds of challenges occur, will chaos ensue?
1. Bad Decisions

**Heated Nights and Dark Shadows**

_by: Princess Cherry Blossom_

_Chapter 1_: Bad Decisions

Lucy sighed desperately before taking another sip of her vodka- cranberry. It was quite unusual for her to be drinking alcohol. Frankly, it was quite unusual for anybody, except maybe for Cana, to be drinking alcohol so early in the afternoon, but she couldn't help it. She needed it.

She glanced over her shoulder to see her guild- mates acting like their usual selves, picking up random fights, laughing, singing…; the usual craziness that would only grow as the day passed and climax by the end of the evening, with everyone passed out under the tables. With a heavy sigh, she turned back to face Mirajane on the other side of the bar, who was washing up with a recognizable, bright smile on her face.

"Lucy?" The silver- haired mage called her attention. "What's wrong?"

The spirit mage shifted her gaze at the call of her name and took another sip of her drink before answering. "Everything's wrong! Erza's on an S-rank mission, Gray went on a solo mission… Happy's with Carla, since she's sick..." She buried her face into her hands. "At this rate, there's no way I'll make my rent…"

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Mira asked confusedly. "What about Natsu-kun?"

Lucy looked over her shoulder and immediately spotted the fire-mage on one of the tables, exhaling a small amount of fire and gaining attention from their fellow guild- mates as always.

"Does he look like he's in any mood to work?" The blonde asked rhetorically and heard Mira let out an amused chuckle.

Sure, it would be easy to forget all the nasty money trouble she's been having and join the others into another restless night of partying for no reason, but… Just the thought of her landlady was enough to make her skin crawl!

She finished the rest of her drink in one sip, just to make the scary images in her head go away.

"I think I'm gonna need a refill." She exclaimed and Mira chuckled nervously in response. Well, getting drunk was one way of handling the situation… Probably not the wisest, but still the only one she could think of at the moment.

"Oi, Lucy!" She immediately recognized the loud voice that came from behind her. She didn't even have to turn around, as her partner was already clinging onto her with the usual grin plastered on his face. "Why the long face?"

Lucy felt an angry vein pop out on her forehead at the question. He even had the nerve to ask? She sighed, composing herself, before granting him with a response.

"In case you haven't noticed." She started calmly. "We haven't been on a job for almost a month now! All of our team members are absent and the month is almost over!" Her tone was growing. "I have absolutely no idea how to make my rent! And all you seem to be doing is goofing around…"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Natsu squeaked in a tiny voice, and stormed off to the pin- board, only to return seconds later, with a paper in his hands.

"Here, how's this sound?" He panted, waving the piece of paper in front of her face.

"You just grabbed the first thing you could find!" She protested.

"Wrong. I checked the most important thing!" He replied with a recognizable, devious grin. "Look at the prize."

Lucy felt her eyes widen at the sight. 1 million Jewels? That was… that was…

"Wait a minute." She said thoughtfully, narrowing her eyebrows as she quickly read the actual job description. "The job is to take down a brothel!"

"So?" Natsu shrugged. "We just take out the bad guys and end up with all the prize money for ourselves!" He explained simply. "Think about it, Luce. It's just the two of us going. That's 500,000 each!"

500,000 Jewels… That's more than 7 rents… She wouldn't have to worry about rent money for more than half a year!

"Now that that's settled." He grabbed the paper from her hands and handed it to Mira. "Let's meet up in an hour in front of the guild! See ya then!"

And with that, he disappeared again. Lucy took one last sip before getting off her chair. Finally, an actual job!

Still, was this ok? Taking down an entire brothel, just the two of them? The prize money wouldn't be so enormous if the job was as easy as Natsu just described…. Would they really be okay without Erza and Gray?

Lucy reminded herself she should probably just stay grateful for opportunity to earn the much needed cash. After all, up until a few minutes ago, her only solution to her financial struggles was to drown herself in alcohol…

"Well, I guess I'm off…" She exclaimed unsurely.

Mira nodded in response. "Good luck!" She smiled brightly.

"Thanks." Lucy smiled back. "Something tells me… we're going to need it."

* * *

"Come on, Natsu." The blonde mage whined in frustration. "We haven't got all day!"

"I can't help it…" He mumbled out, accepting the hand she offered to help him get out of the vehicle.

Needless to say, the Salamander hadn't exactly experienced the ride of his life in the carriage for the last few hours, as the two mages traveled to their job location. And as Natsu let his motion sickness get the better of him even on solid ground, Lucy was busy looking around.

It was definitely smaller than Magnolia, but that wasn't the only difference; it seemed unnaturally empty for that part of the day. Lucy couldn't help but fidget at the sight of the tiny, dark streets and corners as they made their way to the location stated on the job description.

Finally, they seemed to have arrived and much to their surprise, it was an old, seemingly abandoned house. What was even stranger was the sign, right above the aged wooden door, that said "Hingaro's Potion Magic".

"Hm, it seems like we're here." Lucy exclaimed unsurely, checking the address again.

Natsu's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Are you sure we have the right place?" He turned to face her. "This is an old potion shop."

"Well, this was the address on the job description…"

"Can I help you two youngsters?" An old man suddenly appeared behind the wooden door, making the two partners jump back in surprise. Lucy's shock was quickly replaced by a sudden feeling of sympathy as she took a better look at the man before them. He was pale and long-faced, and his eyes bore such loneliness and sorrow, she was taken aback by the mere sight.

Lucy forced her mind to focus on the question directed at them. "Uh, yeah. We're here for a job, it said…"

"Wait, you two are mages?" The old man's expression lit up slightly at the realization.

"So you called for us?" Natsu reasoned, joining the conversation. "Well, no need to waste any more time. Just point to the direction of this brothel and we'll take care of it."

"I'm afraid…" The old man mumbled out solemnly. "It won't be nearly as easy. If you would follow me…" He trailed off, slowly disappearing behind the door.

The two mages glanced at each other in confusion before joining the man inside the small shop. The room they entered seemed as neglected as the entire shop did from the outside; one would never assume someone actually lived there, let alone ran a business.

"Hm, I've hardly left my room since my daughter's been gone." The man explained, as if hearing their thoughts. "There've hardly been any customers…"

"S-so, your daughter…?" Lucy started quietly, uncertain how to finish her question.

The old potion- maker sighed heavily. "She, along with many other girls from the town, has been taken to the brothel and forced to…"

Lucy felt her face fall. The poor man… To have his daughter taken away from him was horrible in its own way, but this… "Hingaro-san…" She started weakly. "What did you mean just now, when you said it won't be as easy…?"

"The man who runs the brothel is a despicable, but terrifying mage." The potion maker stated, his expression turning dark as he described the villain. "He used to be a member of a dark guild, but came to our town about a year ago."

"He started taking young girls away from their families by force." He continued. "There was nothing we could do about it, really..."

Natsu frowned in confusion. "How come you're only calling for help now?"

"He threatened us with the lives of our daughters." The old man answered quietly, as if being ashamed of his own words. "He claimed he'd know if we notified anyone or tried anything by ourselves."

"I sent the ad about the job through a friend who was headed for Magnolia." He explained further. "That's how that fiend didn't find out."

"And why exactly can't we charge in there?" The fire- mage inquired.

"Nobody knows of his mysterious powers." Hingaro replied. "He is said to be one of the strongest mages from his former guild. To defeat him, you must first learn about his abilities…-"

"And how do you suppose we do that? You just said nobody knows!"

"Natsu! Let the man talk!" Lucy hissed at him, though she was also curious about what the old man had in mind.

"I still don't get why we can't just handle things the way we usually do!" Natsu countered and the spirit mage could only sigh in frustration. Strategizing really wasn't Natsu's way of handling missions…

"I've worked out a plan that just might work." Hingaro finally managed to answer. "It requires something a bit drastic but…" He looked at the two mages with uncertainty, as if he was afraid of sharing his idea.

"Go on." Lucy encouraged him with a smile. "We're here to help you."

He sighed, before speaking again. "You'd have to… infiltrate the brothel…" He swallowed hard. "As a prostitute."

Lucy blinked. D-did he just say…? "Err… What?!"

"Only by working there, you'd be able to gather info and…-"

"You want her to work as a prostitute?!" Natsu suddenly barked. Lucy titled her head to look at him and was taken aback by his enraged expression. An angry vein popped out on his forehead and Lucy swore she had never seen the fire-mage so angry outside of battle.

"N-Natsu…" She touched his hand lightly, trying to calm him, though she herself was still pretty shaken up by the bold request.

"L-let me explain!" Hingaro's voice came out almost feminine, though you could hardly blame him. Natsu's glare was deadly enough to kill. "Y-you wouldn't actually have to become a prostitute."

Lucy frowned in confusion. She glanced at Natsu, who was wearing a similar expression.

Hingaro took a deep breath as the anxiety in the room seemed to have dropped. "You're a mage, right?" He started again, fixating his gaze on Lucy who nodded in response. "It'd be easy enough for you to knock out the, ehm… customer."

"Knock him out?" She repeated thoughtfully. "But what would happen when…-"

"I'm a potion maker, remember?" He cut her off quickly, rushing over to the wooden table nearby and taking a bottle out of one of the drawers. "You'd only need to make them drink this. And when they wake up, they wouldn't have a doubt about you…"

"Your partner would come occasionally, as a customer, and then you would exchange the info you've gathered." Hingaro explained further.

Silence crawled in the air and Lucy cold practically sense Natsu's anger from beside her. She sighed and decided to analyze their situation. The plan this old man had just suggested seemed to make sense, but the idea of living in a brothel… Working as a prostitute, even if it was just pretending… It was enough to make her skin crawl!

Still, Natsu simply barging in there was too dangerous. If only Gray and Erza were here…

"No." A low voice broke her train of thoughts.

"Natsu…" She turned to him instantly. He was wearing a dark, serious expression, and Lucy couldn't believe how differently he was acting than his usual self. Sure, she was shocked and slightly offended by this plan too, but she never expected him to react this way. Why exactly was he so furious? It was her who was supposed to the dirty work, after all.

"I-I'm begging you." The old potion-maker said desperately. "I can try to gather more money as a reward… I'll gather as much as I can, just… Please try…" Lucy felt her heart sink at the sight of the sobbing man. "Please, try to save my daughter."

"Natsu…" Lucy whispered, but the fire- mage stood silent, even though his expression had softened slightly.

"Hinago-san, would you give us a moment?" She asked softly, And Natsu immediately shifted his gaze at her.

"Lucy, no…"

"Could we use your room?" She ignored her partner.

"Certainly!" Hingaro replied urgently. "Take your time, please…"

"Thank you." Lucy smiled at him, as Natsu went ahead murmuring something in the process. As he entered the room Hingaro gestured at, Lucy turned around one last time before entering herself. "He'll come around."

* * *

"No way in hell!" Natsu barked at his partner furiously. Lucy was absolutely positive she had never had such a heated discussion with the fire- mage. Well, at the very least, the roles were reversed and she was the one yelling at him. "Just forget about this stupid mission! We'll find another job!"

"Quitting like that would only make the guild look bad!" She countered quickly. "Don't you care about that anymore?!"

"This is different! He basically tricked us with the job description!" Natsu raised his tone again. "It never mentioned anything about you becoming a prostitute!"

"I'm not going to become a prostitute! I'm just going to pretend to…-"

"NO way in hell!" Natsu repeated in rage. "The only way we're doing this is if we charge in there right away and…-"

"We can't!" Lucy cried out in frustration. She was pretty sure Hingaro could hear them; hell, the whole neighborhood could probably hear them loud and clear, but she couldn't bring herself to care at the moment. "This guy is really dangerous! I have to find out more about him before…-"

"I can't let you do that!" The dragon- slayer protested firmly. "It's way too dangerous, and…-"

"Oh! So that's what this is!" She couldn't believe this! Is that how much he trusted her? "You think I couldn't handle it! You think I'm too weak…"

"I never said…"

"Now look here!" She cut him off quickly. "I might not contribute as much Erza, or Gray, or you, but that doesn't give you the right to…-"

She was silenced as Natsu suddenly grabbed her wrist to get her attention. "It's not…" His eyes softened and his hold on her loosened. "It's not like that." His voice was low, almost a whisper, and Lucy felt something stir inside her stomach. The way he was looking at her made her want to melt beneath his feet. What was happening to her? This was Natsu, after all... Since when did he get so... so...

"I just can't stand the thought of it… I…" He spoke again, his gaze dropping. "I don't want you around those… Those…"

"Natsu." Lucy cut him off in a far gentler voice then earlier. "I can do this. Really." She placed her hand over his which made him look up. "Besides, we can't just leave those poor girls, right?" She gave him a small smile, but noticed the fire mage's eyes held a new king of sadness, something she wasn't quite used to seeing.

Natsu removed his hand from her wrist and slowly sat himself on the bed behind them. He let out one deep sigh before he finally spoke.

"I guess… We could give it a shot." Lucy's eyes widened in disbelief. Did she hear that right? "But." He continued, raising his tone a bit. "If anything happens, I want you to send one of your spirits for me and I'll barge in there right away."

Lucy felt her lips curve upwards and nodded in response. She knew Natsu was protective of all of his fellow guild members, and that he would probably act this way about any other female from their guild, but still... The way he just looked at her, and how he touched her, even if it was for a few mere moments... She could still feel her heart pounding.

The celestial spirit mage let out a deep breath and forced her mind to shove those strange thoughts away. They had more important business to attend to, after all.

„Alright, now that that's settled, you go tell Hingaro-san we're accepting his offer and I'll start getting ready." She told him. „I have a job interview ahead of me, remember?" She explained after catching his confused look.

Natsu's expression turned dark as he wordlessly got off the bed and walked towards the door. Grabbing the door- handle, he stopped his actions for a moment. „I'll wait for you outside." He muttered sourly and left the room, leaving her confused and slightly taken aback by the coldness in his voice.

* * *

Natsu dragged his feet outside of the small potion shop_defeatedly_ and slumped down to the ground with an exhausted sigh. The breeze was lightly caressing his skin and making his rosy bangs tickle his forehead. His surroundings might have been relaxing, but on the inside, the dragon- slayer was anything but at ease.

Inwardly, he blamed himself for being stupid enough to get stuck in this mess. He knew it was all his fault. Served him right for lacking the habit of actually reading a job description for once… Any other job would have been a better choice!

If the situation wasn't as delicate, he would've barged into that brothel and kicked this idiot owner's ass s long time ago. Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple.

It's not like he was afraid of marching into a battlefield without Erza or that ice- brain Gray. He almost laughed at the thought. _As if._

Still, if something were to go wrong, who's to say this creep wouldn't stick to his threats and actually kill those innocent girls? It wasn't like him to think things through like that, but he wasn't willing to take that kind of a risk.

But just the idea of Lucy working there, surrounded by some pathetic, horny low- lives was enough to make him sick to his stomach.

"Shit." He muttered under his breath as the rage he felt before started boiling inside him again. He had absolutely no idea how he was going to survive the coming days…

A large part of him still wanted to grab Lucy and drag her back home if that's what it took to get this stupid plan out of her head. But he couldn't do that. He knew leaving those girls would be wrong. If he did that, he wouldn't deserve to call himself a mage, let alone return to Fairy Tail.

"Natsu?" His partner's low voice came from behind him. Realizing it was time to put this plan in motion, the fire mage sighed before turning around. As soon as he saw what she looked like, however, his eyes nearly bulged out of its sockets

The red dress she was wearing revealed more skin than Natsu could ever imagine. Sure, Lucy wasn't exactly known for dressing conservatively, but still… Her low- cut dress was letting just about anyone see that enticing valley of skin between her breasts and it was barely covering her legs, so most of her creamy thighs were revealed as well.

Natsu found it more difficult to tare his gaze off of her than he expected. His eyes motioned from her exposed cleavage to her long, bare legs…

"Natsu…?" She called his attention again, and the fire- mage somehow forced himself to look at anything else except the barely-clad girl in front of him.

"W-why are you dressed like that?" He stuttered, trying to fight the urge to look at her again.

"Huh?" The blonde mage blinked in confusion, and Natsu frowned. He wasn't exactly trilled to see that she was completely oblivious to what she looked like.

"Oh, well…" She started, finally realizing what her companion was asking. "We want them to hire me as a prostitute, right?" She inquired and Natsu felt something kick inside his stomach at _that_ word. "I can't really go dressed like a nun."

_You don't have to go dressed like a Saturday night stripper either,_ Natsu thought bitterly, but reminded himself it wasn't her he was actually mad at, before saying something he'd later regret.

"Well, let's get going." Lucy exclaimed calmly, and Natsu snapped out of his ragging thoughts.

The two partners walked in silence, as the sun was lowly setting over the horizon. Natsu took a deep breath as he tried to remember how he ended up accepting this whole idea in the first place.

After a while, Lucy suddenly stopped her tracks and turned to him with a serious expression. "Come by the brothel tomorrow evening so we can exchange info." She started and he nodded in response. "I should go on by myself now, it shouldn't be very far from here."

"They can't see us together." She reminded him, just as the fire- mage opened his mouth to protest.

Natsu unconsciously clenched his fists as he watched her slowly distance herself. Was he really supposed to let her go by herself, dressed like that?

"See you tomorrow." She gave him one last smile, before turning around and hurrying down the road, not giving him a chance to protest.

Natsu groaned in defeat, before heading back to the potion shop. As much as he trusted Lucy's skills, and he really did, he just couldn't shake this irritable, angsty feeling that had gotten under his skin off.

Letting out one last sigh, he finally let his mind wander off, as nothing good could come out of worrying and mopping around.

Little did he know what dangers and challenges lay ahead of him, but even more so ahead of the celestial spirit mage, who was walking into a place of her darkest nightmares.

**To be continued…**

* * *

**A/N: **Well, how was it? Would you be interested in reading more? I'm still new to writing FT fanfics, so please do share your thoughts!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

xo


	2. The Line Between Nightmares And Reality

_Chapter 2_: The Fine Line Between Nightmares And Reality

Lucy slowly came to consciousness as a strange mixture of sweet and exotic scents captured her senses. Her eyelids fluttered open and all she could see at first were red sheets scrambled all around her. She tiredly moved her body in order to sit up and lightly massaged her forehead to ease the coming headache.

It took her a couple of moments to realize where exactly she had woken up at and couldn't help but let out a long sigh as the events from yesterday came back to her.

When Lucy was little, she used to close her eyes and take a deep breath whenever she found herself feeling desperate, like after the dreadful conversations she shared with her father, and hope that when she opened her eyes, it would all turn out to have been a bad dream.

Unfortunately, this was no dream. She had spent her first night in a brothel. Her brand new workplace.

How exactly she went from spending her days doing absolutely nothing among her fellow guild mates to waking up as a "prostitute" in just one night was beyond her comprehension.

_Lucy swallowed hard as she stood in front of the entrance of a large building. Above the door was a huge, sparkling pink sign that said "Sticky Sweets". _

_Well, this was it. There was no turning back now. She took one last deep breath and quickly revised the main points of her upcoming "performance". Gathering all the courage she could muster, she grabbed the door- handle and slowly entered._

_Her first impression was that she had arrived in nothing more than a tacky hotel; there was a quite large front room with a bar in the corner and the walls were covered in a tasteless combination of red and pink. _

"_Can I help you?" She heard a voice call her attention and turned her focus to the source. It was a red-haired girl, standing over at the bar among other girls, all dressed similarly, wearing provocative tight dresses, much like the one she had on herself. And even though her "disguise" seemed to be spot on, it didn't help her feel better about herself, as a sudden feeling of shame overwhelmed her._

"_Yes, I uhm…" She approached them, trying to sound as confident as she possibly could. "I'm looking for a job."_

_At that, the girls turned to each other with disbelief in their eyes; "She's what?" One of them asked the others in a whisper; they kept turning back to glance at her, but continued whispering into each other's ears. The spirit mage felt her throat go dry all of sudden, but reminded herself to stay focused on her task. _

"_Is this some kind of a joke?" One of the girls finally spoke out, narrowing her eyes at her in confusion._

"_W-what? N-no, I…"_

"_I'll take it from here, Yuki." A sharp, feminine voice suddenly entered the room, and Lucy glanced over to see a tall, businesslike woman stepping out through the nearby door. _

"_Fumiko-sama." The girl quickly took a few steps back to make place for the woman, and Lucy noticed all of the other girls stopped their whispering and straightened up after her entrance._

_The woman was visibly older than the other girls; her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and her heavy make-up failed to hide the wrinkles on her aging skin. "A job, you say?"_

"_Y-yes, a job. Here." Lucy straightened up slightly, hoping her voice sounded steady enough. "Might I speak with the owner?"_

_She heard a few gasps from the gathered girls and they started whispering yet again. Lucy was quite sure she had never felt more uncomfortable in her life. __She wanted to remain calm and confident, but really, all she could feel was the turmoil churning inside of her.__ Fumiko raised an eyebrow at her and smirked slightly. "You're not from around here, I see…" She trailed off, scanning her with her sharp, dark eyes. "What's your name?"_

"_Mai." She lied. "M-my name is Mai." She repeated, mentally slapping herself for the unnecessary stuttering. _

"_Hn." The woman pursed her lips, continuing to measure her up. "And how old are you?"_

"_Eighteen." _

_Fumiko's cold dark eyes met hers for a brief moment and the blonde- mage felt her heart skip a beat._

"_And how come you're looking for a job here?" She inquired, as she started moving around, like a predator circles its prey, her cutting gaze still steadily fixated on the blonde. _

"_I, uh… My parents have died recently and I have nowhere to go…" She finally answered, hoping her voice sounded more confident to her audience than it did to her. "This is the only option I have left…"_

_Fumiko kept staring at her with an unreadable expression for what seemed an eternity. Lucy felt as if she was bare naked in front of the crowd and could practically hear her heart pounding wildly in anticipation. The way this woman kept staring at her… Was she able to read right through her? Could she tell it was all an act? _

_Tension was lingering in the air, she could feel it so strongly. It was so thick and intense that she could feel her insides clench so tightly that it actually hurt! _

_Her train of thoughts was broken as Fumiko spoke again. "You're a virgin."_

_Lucy instantly felt as if the air was knocked out of her lungs. An intense blush started spreading on her cheeks and she could feel it quickly reach the tips of her ears. Somehow, breathing alone was becoming a challenge. Fumiko, on the other hand, simply kept staring calmly. And even though what she had just heard sounded more like a statement then a question, the spirit mage decided to nod, since she wasn't certain if her voice would oblige her._

_Fumiko's face seemed to have lit up slightly at her response. "Consider yourself hired." She turned around, heading back to the door she stepped out of earlier. "One of the girls will show you to your room. You start work tomorrow."_

Lucy noticed her skin was covered in goose bumps as she remembered the painfully embarrassing details her job interview. Those were probably the most uncomfortable few minutes of her life and the spirit mage was sure they would haunt her forever.

She could've done without a nasty boss like her. Especially since she was hoping to speak with the owner directly and get a good look at him right from the start.

A few knocks on the door woke her from her troubled thoughts.

"W-who is it?" _Please don't let it be that witch, please…_

"It's Yuki."

Lucy sighed in relief. "Come in."

"Is everything okay, Mai-chan?" The girl asked in concern as she closed the door behind her. "You look a little pale…"

"Everything's fine!" Lucy gave her a shaky smile, hoping it would be reassuring enough for her new colleague.

"Well, Fumiko-sama wants you to start getting ready for tonight." She informed her, taking a seat on the bed beside her. "There's a really important customer coming, and since you're, well… _New_…" Lucy swallowed hard, realizing what that word probably meant in this world. "She wants you to take care of him."

The celestial spirit mage could only nod in understanding, though inside she felt her stomach beginning to boil again. She knew this was what she had signed up for, but now it was actually happening for real… She would actually have to come face to face with some pervert whose intentions were anything but pure!

"I'm sorry, this might come off as rude, but…" Yuki trailed off, gaining her attention again and her expression turned serious. "What were you thinking? Coming here on your own free will?"

Lucy sighed nervously, realizing she should have been prepared for questions of this kind. "I… I just…" She started, her gaze dropping as she tried to come up with a decent answer. "Like I said, I have no where else to go…"

"But…-"

"Could you show me to the baths?" Lucy quickly cut her off, realizing she was probably getting more suspicious by the second. "I really should start getting ready…"

Yuki nodded wordlessly, and Lucy noticed the disappointment on her face before she turned to the door and started leading the way. She could hardly blame her, really. These girls were being forced into something so cruel and disgusting, and for her to come here asking for a job, even if it was pretending... She could only imagine how hard and discouraging it must've been for all of them to see that.

She sighed as she followed Yuki down the long hall, gazing at one of the windows that happened to give a view of the distant potion shop. A single thought crossed her mind and she felt something tug at her heart.

_Natsu… I wonder what you're doing right now…_

* * *

To say that Natsu Dragneel was in a bad mood would be an understatement.

He grumbled something incoherent as he made his way out of the nearby forest back to the potion shop he was supposed to be staying at, being completely useless while his partner was out dealing with perverted scum this town was apparently filled with. He felt an angry vein pop out on his forehead again, but stopped his tracks and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He was just returning from an intense training session which had the purpose of releasing his boiling frustration.

However, the dragon-slayer's anger didn't seem to have an end.

As he got closer to the house he decided it might just be better to stay out of that old potion maker's way for the time being. There was no telling what he could say or do to him in the sour moon he found himself in, and the old man hardly deserved that kind of rudeness, even though it was his plan that was the source of the dragon- slayer's unpredictable behavior.

He eventually settled for a stroll around the town, reasoning that it might just help him clear his thoughts, as kicking the crap out of some trees in the woods clearly didn't do any good.

The fire- mage sighed deeply as he wandered around the narrow streets, going through the plan they had established yesterday once more. A huge part of him was still uncertain about why he was here, doing nothing, while his fellow guild mate was out there, doing the dirty work on her own. Weren't they partners? Weren't they supposed to be dealing with this together and…

Just then, a single thought crossed his mind. His eyes snapped wide open. How the heck did he not come up with this sooner? Why the hell should she have to be alone with those nasty hormonal dogs? They could knock them out together and then…

_No, that won't work. _He thought as his face fell in disappointment. Not after she gave him that speech about him not trusting her abilities. He immediately felt overwhelmed with guilt for doubting her like that. He truly believed Lucy was a skilled mage and Fairy Tail was lucky to have her, but…

It wasn't even her he was doubting. This whole idea, everything about it disturbed him to no end and made him unusually edgy about going through with it. He couldn't quite explain it, but something about it reeked foul.

There was one thing the fire- mage was especially worried about. His instincts never let him down before.

* * *

Lucy stared at the piece of clothing lying on her bed and sighed deeply. Apparently, the dress she picked out yesterday was only sufficient enough to get her the job. To actually accomplish it, she needed to change into something even more revealing- a corset.

Truthfully, the spirit mage never had a problem with revealing a little more skin, but the thought of facing a perverted stranger in nothing more than that tiny piece of pink fabric was making her skin crawl!

"_He's a wealthy business man from the North and he's taking a break from his travels specifically for the brothel." Fumiko explained as she accompanied her back to her room after she spent most of the afternoon getting cleaned up and ready. She looked at the frowning woman and nodded in understanding._

"_You will fulfill his every wish." She continued and Lucy felt something kick inside her stomach. "Whatever he wants you to do, as many times as he wants… The customer is always right." She felt shivers run down her spine at these requests but forced herself to act as natural as she possibly could. "And if I, by any chance, find out you didn't meet his expectations…" Fumiko stopped her tracks and her expression turned dead serious. "Let's just say, you'll wish you had looked for a job elsewhere…" _

Lucy frowned upon the memory. She swallowed hard before starting to take off her shirt shakily, dropping it on the floor.

"Oi, Luce!" She heard a familiar voice coming from outside and her eyes widened as a certain fire- mage made his appearance on the window. "I-uh…"

"N-Natsu!" She squeaked out in panic, covering her exposed chest with her hands instantly. She felt heat spread through her face like wildfire. "Turn around!" She commanded and before he obliged, she swore she saw a light shade of pink on his cheeks as well.

_Well, at least he has the decency to blush… _She thought to herself, picking up her shirt and putting it on again. For some reason, rather than anger, she felt something light tickling sensation inside her stomach as she realized Natsu just saw her exposed like that, even if it was for just an instant.

She cleared her throat, trying to collect her jumbled thoughts. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, turning around to face her again. "You said to come and meet up in the afternoon."

Lucy frowned as that conversation quickly came back to her. "Didn't I tell you to come as a customer? What if someone had seen you climbing through my window like that?" She sighed, taking a seat on the bed behind her. "Well, I got the job, as you can see…"

"Did you get to see this creep?" Natsu asked as he finally got off the window and sat himself beside her.

The spirit mage looked away almost shyly. "No, not yet…" She admitted, but as Natsu's expression started to change dangerously, she added. "But I have my first meeting tonight, so after that I'll…"

"Wait, what?" Natsu snapped, jumping up on his feet. "Y-you have a meeting tonight…?" He repeated in disbelief, his eyes widening.

"Yeah, but that's a good thing!" Lucy countered, getting up herself. "After I prove myself, they'll trust me more and…"

"Don't tell me that's what you're wearing!" Natsu didn't seem to be listening, as he pointed at the pink peace of clothing on the bed, his eyes flashing with growing anger.

"I-I have to!" The spirit mage shot back, but lowered her voice as she realized the last thing they needed was for someone to hear them. "Look, it's not like anything's gonna happen!" She pointed out, trying to gain his full attention before he gave them away by growling at her again. "I simply have to knock him out and make him…"

In one swift movement, he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her closer, making her face him. Lucy let out a shaky breath she didn't know she was holding, before slowly lifting her gaze at him. He stared down at her with an intense expression and all the anger he radiated just moments ago seemed forgotten; his dark eyes softened slightly and his voice was tingled with concern. "Lucy… You … You don't have to do this…"

"Natsu…" She dumbfounded, unable to think of a decent response through her frazzled mind. She felt her cheeks grow warmer and suddenly found herself lost in his dark eyes. They held such tenderness and warmth, she was sure she had never seen the dragon- slayer act this way before.

"It's not too late…" He murmured, gaining her attention again. "Just come back with me…" He pleaded, squeezing her shoulders gently. Her chest tightened and her heart literally felt like it was being squeezed in a vice. How could she ever say no to him now?

Suddenly, loud footsteps approaching on the other side of the door captured they're attention and Lucy bolted away from her partner in panic. "You have to go, he's coming!" She grabbed him by the sleeve and tried pulling him towards the window, however, the fire- mage had different plans. "Hurry!" She hissed at him desperately, as the footsteps were getting louder.

"Lucy, please…" He tried again, and for a moment, she found herself lost in his eyes again. Every cell in her body was screaming at her to let him stay. She didn't want him to leave her…

But the footsteps got even louder and time was running out.

"I'll be fine! I can handle it, just go…" She begged him, pulling the piece of fabric she grabbed. "You can't risk someone seeing you outside either…" She reminded him, realizing he'd probably linger around, making sure she was ok. "Just go." She whispered.

He granted her one last pleading look before his gaze dropped and he disappeared from her sight. The blonde mage bit her lower lip as the painful feeling of guilt clenched her stomach. She wanted to call out to him, she wanted him to come back… But she didn't have time to be this weak. She needed to do this on her own.

In a few quick moves, she got rid off her clothes, tossing them beneath the bed and squirmed into the tight corset, hiding one of her keys underneath, just in time. The door slowly opened, revealing a tall, dark-haired man.

He smirked at her and Lucy could feel ice shoot down her spine as she saw the hungry, longing look in his eyes.

"Well well well, what do we have here…" He trailed off, as he started approaching her slowly and teasingly. "Seems like that old hag wasn't lying…" He concluded as he got closer and Lucy realized she was subconsciously taking steps backwards, but somehow couldn't bring herself to stop. "You're gonna be one hell of a good lay…"

The spirit mage felt her lower lip tremble as she listened to the sinful words that came out of his mouth. Her back suddenly pressed against the cool wall and her mind started panicking; she could feel her body slowly beginning to paralyze in fear. "Uh…"

"Oh, don't be scared, darling…" He murmured, granting her a menacing smile. "I'm going to take good care of you…." Lucy felt her eyelids close on their own and sensed him shoving her against the wall. Her skin was crawling as she felt his hot breath on her neck. "I'm going to fuck you all night long…"

"O-open, Gate of the Golden Bull Palace!" She shouted out, pushing the man off of her with all her might. "Taurus!"

As the giant bull came out, announcing his entrance with a growl like so many times before, Lucy glanced back at the now pale, trembling man who could only gape in shock at the scene.

"I want him asleep!" The blonde mage ordered, turning back to her summoned spirit. "Don't hurt him if you don't have to!"

"As you command, Lucy-san!" With a quick, precise movement, Taurus hit the back of his neck and the man collapsed onto the floor with a grunt. Lucy stared at his unmoving body panting, not exactly sure how she managed to lose her breath, yet her whole body was still trembling in excitement.

"Y-you can go now…" She mumbled out quietly and Taurus nodded before disappearing in silence. It seemed even the perverted bull had enough tact not to compliment his master's body, as he usually did, at a moment such as this one.

Lucy let out a long, shaky breath as she let her herself sink to her knees, right beside her knocked out customer.

So many thoughts raced through her mind; she could still hear her heart pounding loudly against her chest and no matter how hard she tried to calm herself, her fingers were still shaking rapidly.

She reminded herself this had been the plan from the start; in order to free those girls she needed to do this… She knew it would come down to this all along so why was she suddenly feeling so ashamed? So disgusted with herself that she felt sick to her stomach? Why was she feeling so tainted... so dirty?

A lone tear traced down her cheek, and she closed her eyes, granting herself s few seconds of stillness. She remembered what she used to do in moments like these as a kid and almost smiled in desperation at the thought. She knew very well that when she opened her eyes this time, she wouldn't wake up from a bad dream. She'd return to her real life nightmare.

**To be continued…**

* * *

**A/N: **First of all, sorry for the long wait, guys! I was actually on vacation for a week so I didn't get to write as much as I wanted to.

I just want to say THANK YOU for all your wonderful reviews! You're all so amazing and I really appreciate it!

Also, I have a tumblr: (kleiocat) where I was planning to keep you guys updated on how the writing is going, maybe give some previews and so on. Maybe I'll see you there?

Anyways, please do share your thoughts! I really wanna know how I'm doing ^^"

That's it for now, see you at the next chapter! Buh- buy!


	3. Facing the Obvious

_Chapter 3_: Facing the Obvious

It was exactly 6 o'clock in the morning as a lone, pink- haired figure left the old potion shop just outside of the still sleeping town. The slightly crisp morning breeze caressed his skin as he stopped his tracks, suddenly realizing he had yet to figure out where he was headed.

Sure, someone might wonder what kind of a person would willingly get up at such an ungodly hour only to space out. Well, the dragon slayer had his reasons, first of which would be the fact that he had hardly gotten any sleep the previous night and couldn't bare to keep tossing and turning in his bed when he clearly wasn't about to get any rest.

An icy chill ran down his spine as the chilly wind picked up slightly and he cursed under his breath. This day sure wasn't promising to be any better than the previous one. But as nasty as the feeling of being out in this hour was, he'd gladly accept it if it meant staying out of that old potion maker's way.

Natsu wasn't one to hold a grudge, but he figured seeing that old man wouldn't exactly go smoothly. Not after yesterday's events, at least.

Now that he had successfully escaped an encounter with the potion maker, the question of where to head off to still remained. He could always go to the forest and vent out some pilled up frustration…

And just then, the image of leaving Lucy alone in that hideously tacky room right before some hormonal pig entered flashed before his eyes.

_Damn it!_ He hated being this protective of her. It made him feel guilty, like he was doubting her abilities, even though he knew very well she was perfectly capable of protecting herself.

Truthfully, he had a hard time understanding why he had been worrying about her almost obsessively ever since this mission started. He never had a problem like that before, so why now? And why did he feel the strong urge to take down just about anyone who tried to make a move on her?

He knew very well feeling possessive over her was quite foolish. They were best friends, partners; he considered her one the most precious people in his life, but that didn't give him the right to beat the living daylights out of anyone who would approach her in a lecherous way. It didn't, but he still wanted to do just that.

His mind slowly started leaning towards the only rational, yet incredibly frightening explanation as to why all of this was happening to him….

Could it be that the care he felt for her wasn't as innocent as before?

_No way. _ This fiasco of a mission must have turned his mind into a fried, chaotic mess. So what if he felt his blood pressure rise at the thought of someone touching her? And so what if he just recently started noticing her enticing, feminine curves, or how smooth her legs were…Or how soft and creamy her skin looked?

He shook his head in order to free his mind from those disturbing thoughts. There was no way he'd actually fallen for her… Right?

The dragon slayer let out an irritated sigh. Why the heck was he even thinking about this all of a sudden? All he needed to do was stick to their plan and wait for Lucy to say it was okay to kick the crap out of the creeper who started this chaos.

Finally moving from his spot, he figured he might as well be of some use and headed down the road, hoping to find someone willing to talk about this brothel owner person. The more info he could dig out on his own, the less time Lucy would need to spend at that disgusting place and the lower the chance of some horn dog laying a hand on her…

The fire mage let out a troubled sigh. He was a hopeless case. And this mission really needed to end.

Soon.

* * *

Lucy lay on her bed motionless, staring at the ceiling, deeply distracted by her tormenting thoughts.

Since the fateful day she joined Fairy Tail she had survived several ridiculously dangerous missions, a trip to a parallel dimension and an attack by an ancient terrifying dragon, but somehow she felt those experiences were not as bad as she originally thought compared to the events from last night.

Her eyelids closed shut as the nasty headache she'd been dealing with all morning continued to thump behind her ears. The spirit mage found out first hand that sleeping with a knocked out pervert beside your bed was a bigger challenge than she had expected.

After she forced the potion on the unconscious man, she spent the rest of the night trying to force her mind to relax for at least a few hours of much needed sleep. It didn't quite work, however, as she was far too troubled by the fact that she had no idea what would happen when her customer woke up, and the absolute last thing she needed was another confrontation like the one she had before she called out Taurus.

Fortunately for her, the old man Hingaro's potion seemed to have done the trick as when her customer woke up, he simply complimented her with words she'd rather not recall, promising he'd ask for her again and leaving without a doubt about what had actually happened between them.

The stellar mage figured hearing perverts such as him calling her names, as utterly repulsive as it was, was a sacrifice she just had to make in order to achieve the goal of her mission.

However, the obnoxious feeling of shame over yesterday's "meeting", as irrational as it might have been, was still boiling inside her stomach. She let out a long sigh and decided to head downstairs to join her fellow colleagues for breakfast.

She entered the kitchen, carefully looking around, hoping she'd somehow manage to stay out of her female boss's way.

"Mai-chan, over here! " A familiar voice called her attention and she titled her head to its source.

"Hey." She smiled as she saw Yuki among other girls sitting at the round table.

The spirit mage sat among them, feeling a tad uncomfortable as none of the gathered girls would shift their eyes from her.

"Sooo, how was it?" Yuki inquired seemingly excited, as the other girls drew closer, staring at her in anticipation.

"How was what?" She frowned in confusion, grabbing a waffle from the plate.

"You know… your customer…?" Yuki urged her on, lowering her voice. "From last night?"

"Did it hurt?" She heard one of the other girls ask. "Was he at least trying to be gentle?"

"Oh…" Lucy mentally kicked herself for spacing out like that. She needed to do something about her focus, otherwise these girls really will start thinking she's some kind of an idiot. "Hm, yeah, it was fine." She answered nonchalantly, hoping her words were believable enough.

However, Yuki's eyes widened considerably at her statement. "Fine? God, I wish I could say that about my first time…"

"Me too." A blonde girl beside her admitted, letting out a small sigh. "I still remember how that drunken pig jumped on me…"

"Yesterday, Kin wanted to try it against the wall…" Another girl Lucy remembered to be called Rin exclaimed, and the others immediately focused their attention to her. "I thought I was going to break!"

The other girls nodded in understanding, each sighing as another girl started sharing her experience from last night that made the spirit mage feel heat slowly starting to spread to her face. She knew she was probably going to start blushing like an idiot, but she had a damn good reason for it too! She knew she had next to no experience in sex, aside from the few things she'd hear from Cana here and there and all this talk was becoming painfully uncomfortable…

"Well, I guess you can say you're lucky. You're eighteen after all…" Yuki broke her thoughts. "Ayu here lost it when she was thirteen!"

"W-What?" Lucy stuttered in utter bewilderment as she titled her head to the young, quiet girl on the other side of the table. She managed a weak smile before her sullen eyes dropped to the floor.

But before Lucy could properly react to the outrages information, Rin added. "There are a few girls under 13 here, too."

The stellar mage felt her jaw drop at the statement, her eyes widening in disbelief.

"Fumiko says they'll be learing for the next two years before joining the business"

_Learning? Joining the business? What the hell is this place?_ Lucy bit her lip nervously as her eyes motioned over the gathered girls. She desperately wanted to tell them who she was and what she was planning to do. She felt a strong urge to say that their nightmare would be over soon and that she had actually come to free them from this hellhole, not "join the business" as if it were a normal thing to do.

A few brief moments of silence passed before Lucy finally decided to ask. "What about… The owner?"

The girls glanced at each other worriedly, as if they were scared of opening that subject. "No one knows anything about him." Yuki confessed, her voice low, almost a whisper. "None of us have ever seen him, but…" She leaned in closer. "Every woman he's ever had seemed to have disappeared mysteriously."

"Yeah, no one's ever seen any of them the morning after." Rin added quickly. "One time I asked Fumiko-sama what the deal was with those girls, and she said if she ever cought me talking about the boss again, she'd start sending the roughest customers directly to me…"

Lucy frowned, remembering how that evil old wrench threatened her just yesterday, and her admiration for the girls grew onto a whole new level as she realized what they've been dealing with ever since they got trapped in this horrific place.

As the girls returned to their casual chatting, the stellar mage dropped her half-eaten waffle on the plate and buried her head in her hands in desperation. This new bit of information, as disturbing as it was, got her nowhere near solving this mystery. If anything, she was even more confounded then before.

The blonde could only sigh in discouragement.

This mission was far from over.

* * *

Natsu rolled his eyes in disbelief as he stood in front of the brothel, reading the outrageous shiny sign above the door. Just when he thought this place couldn't get any tackier… He let out an exhausted sigh as he slowly entered, unsure of what to expect.

"Hi there." He heard a low, raspy voice from the corner and turned to face its source. It was a tall older woman whose intense stare instantly made him cringe in discomfort. However, what captured his interest was the unusual scent coming from inside the room behind the bar. It was so unique, the dragon slayer swore he never smelled anything like it before… "Your first time here, am I right?" The woman broke his thoughts.

"Yeah, it is…" He trailed off thoughtfully as he approached her, his focus still fixated on the strange aura coming from the room behind. It made shivers run down his spine, yet he had such a strong desire to go inside and see the source of this unusual sensation he was feeling.

"Well, might I suggest someone for you?" She stopped his thoughts again, raising her eyebrows in a way that made the fire-mage's skin crawl. It seemed this annoying woman really wasn't going to leave him alone and he suddenly had a real problem on his hands. How was he supposed to ask for Lucy now that she knew it was his first time in the brothel…?

"No, I…" He started, forcing his mind to come up with a suitable response fast. "Well, I've heard that you have a new girl…"

"Oh?" Her eyebrows narrowed in surprise. "Yes, her name is Mai. The newest addition to our little… Family." Natsu frowned darkly at her use of words, but reminded himself to stay calm. He watched her in disgust as she opened some sort of planner and her eyes wandered on the paper before she spoke again, smirking. "It seems this is your lucky night. She's free."

As bizarre as it was to pay for seeing his partner, and as wrong as it felt, Natsu was forced to drop the money the potion maker gave him earlier on the desk as the irritating woman kept giving him all sorts of unneeded information. Once he heard what room Lucy was in, he left wordlessly, focused on finding her as quickly as possible.

Ever since he left her the day before, the blonde mage hardly left his thoughts. He needed to check if she was alright. He _needed_ to see her.

After wandering around the halls for a few minutes, with muffled groans and moans from the nearby rooms distracting him from his task, he finally found himself in front of room 32 as instructed. Reminding himself what happened the last time he came to her unannounced, he decided to knock before slowly opening the door. "Luce?"

The stellar mage, who was sitting on the wide bed seemingly deep in thoughts, immediately responded to the call of her name. "N-Natsu? Hey…"

The fire mage frowned slightly as he gazed upon her troubled expression. She somehow forced a weak smile at him, but he could tell something was deeply bothering her. She looked absolutely exhausted with dark circles under her eyes, though the fire mage knew he wasn't looking much better himself, but that wasn't the cause of her gloomy mood. "Did something happen? You look a little…"

"Uh, what?" She blinked in confusion as she snapped out of her thoughts, causing him to raise his eyebrows. "No no, everything's fine!" She tried to assure him. "Sit!"

He obliged, never dropping his gaze off her. "Are you sure everything's…?"

"Absolutely! Don't worry!" Natsu was quite sure he had never seen a smile as fake as the one she was wearing. Still, the spirit mage kept insisting. "Everything's going according to plan!"

"Glad to hear it." He replied dryly, realizing it'd be futile to press the subject further. He never thought he'd meet someone as stubborn as himself, but the blonde somehow managed to prove him wrong continually.

"I've been snooping around for clues all day and no one seems to know a thing about this guy!" Natsu told her, remembering the bad luck that'd been following him for the past hours. He asked in every pub, bar and restaurant he stumbled upon, but as soon as he mentioned the words "brothel owner", people would either stare at him with widened eyes or distance themselves quietly, unwilling to grant him any kind of response. "Tell me you got something."

Lucy sighed defeatedly. "Not much, except…" She threw him a worried look and cleared her throat nervously. "Well, the girls told me that any women he's ever been with disappeared without a trace."

"What?" Natsu frowned, taken aback by her statement. How was that even possible? "The first thing I noticed here was a weird stench coming from one of the rooms downstairs." He told her and the blonde narrowed her eyebrows confusedly. "Something's definitely not right here, Luce."

The stellar mage could only nod in agreement. She bit her lip anxiously, furrowing her brow, and Natsu could tell she was already deep in thought, trying to solve the riddle that came with the clues they've discovered. The dragon slayer knew strategizing wasn't exactly his specialty, but even he could tell they needed more details if they were to resolve the mystery behind this place. He scowled darkly at the realization of what that actually meant.

Lucy had to stay here longer.

The fire mage needed to know one more thing before he left. Silence lingered as he studied the blonde's troubled expression, debating whether it was wise to open this new subject. "How did it go yesterday?" He queried in a soft voice.

She looked up at him as a solemn expression graced her features. "Oh, it was fine." She answered quietly, managing a weak smile. "Taurus had no problem knocking him out…"

Natsu nodded wordlessly, unsure of what or even if he should say anything to her at all. He knew her well enough to understand that her experience from yesterday was far from "fine". He knew her well enough to notice the pain and sadness her eyes displayed, even though she tried so hard to cover them with her faint, forced smiles. And as much as it pained him to leave her like that, he knew there was no way to make her confess what was going on. "Well I guess I should get going…" He said quietly, getting up.

"W-wait!" She exclaimed urgently. "I mean, you can't just go, you're a customer…" She tried to explain as her cheeks slowly turned pink. "You have to spend the night… Or at least stay a little longer." She added quietly, her gaze dropping in embarrassment.

The fire-mage realized he should have probably thought of that himself, but what grasped his attention almost immediately was the fact that the room had only one bed. The only solution that came to his mind was to share it, though he wouldn't dare to offer that idea to Lucy, seeing how the blonde reacts every time she catches him snoozing in the privacy of her own bedroom….

"We can share the bed, I don't mind…" She exclaimed, smiling shyly, as if she heard his thought process. The stellar mage then turned to grab her night gown and Natsu immediately turned around, giving her privacy to change.

He swallowed hard as he slowly took of his scarf, not entirely sure why the feeling of anxiety was suddenly swooping upon him. He had slept beside Lucy just about a hundred times before, so why was he getting so nervous now? And why was his stomach suddenly captured by this weird, fluttering sensation?

"Natsu?" He heard her voice from behind. "You can turn around now."

He obliged, turning to see her already covered with sheets, and felt his hear rate rise as he slowly approached. As he lowered himself on the bed and pulled the sheets over his body, he swore he saw a light shade of pink on her cheeks and couldn't help but smirk to himself. It seemed he wasn't the only one getting nervous after all.

Beside the obvious shyness she displayed, the fire mage also noticed she was lightly trembling; her tiny nightgown revealed more than it covered, and even though her lower body was covered under sheets, he could tell she wasn't comfortable.

"You're cold, aren't you?" The dragon slayer mumbled out, and her chocolate eyes shifted to him. "Come here, I'll keep you warm." He murmured, the words coming out before he had a chance to think twice about his somewhat bold offer. He was sure her cheeks turned an even darker shade of pink as she shyly placed her head against his broad chest and one of her hands next to her face.

Her tiny, soft body pressed against his side and the dragon slayer knew he'd have a hard time denying just how good it felt. He brought one arm to rest on her back as he inhaled her sweet scent. There was a new, foreign essence to it that must have been part of her brothel "performance", but her original, deliciously tempting scent was still there. He'd know it anywhere.

And while his hand slowly started caressing her side on instinct, the fire-mage let out a long breath as he finally faced the terrifying truth.

Yes, he had fallen for her. The more he thought about it, the clearer and more obvious it became. How in the world did he not fall in love with her sooner? She was weird, yes, but in her own adorable way. She was beautiful, _so beautiful_ Natsu couldn't quite understand how he didn't notice it was a strong, capable and very determined mage, but he still felt the urge to protect her from any harm that could come her way. Most of all, she was a generous, loving and kind hearted friend, one of the best friends he's ever had.

She was the only one he could ever love like this.

And all of their troubles, the mission, these new, confusing feelings… He would shove those thoughts aside for now. The only thing that mattered was the fragile girl in his arms.

The dragon slayer let out a long breath and wondered if sleep had claimed her yet when he heard a few light snores coming from below and smiled.

He buried his lips into her silky hair and whispered. "Sleep tight, Luce." He pulled her closer and heard her let out a soft sigh in response. "You're safe tonight."

**To be continued…**

* * *

**A/N: **Finally!I can't believe how long it took me to update, but I've been having massive trouble with this chapter! Plus, I've had some minor health issues over the last few days, so I wasn't able to update over the weekend like I planned/promised.

Well, how did you like this one? Do you like it when I write in Natsu's mindset? I gotta admit, I find it a bit more entertaining :P

Thank you soooo much for your amazing reviews! You guys keep me motivated! Like I said before, you can connect with me on tumblr (kleiocat is my user), so if you have any questions or if you're simply curious about sneak peeks/next chapter progress, I'll see you there!

Take care everyone!

xo


	4. A Slap Back To Reality

_Chapter 4_: A slap back to reality

Lucy rubbed her cheek against the soft fabric dreamily, unwilling to open her eyes just yet. She could afford to grant herself a few more sleepy moments, especially since it was so warm and comfortable, and… Wait a minute.

Her eyes snapped open and much to her horror, she realized her head was pressed against a broad male chest. Acting on instinct, the spirit mage bolted away as if she had been burned. Her heart race returned to normal however, as she saw her pink haired partner sleeping ever so peacefully beside her.

Before her mind even had the chance to question the fact of why the two of them were in the same bed, the events from last night dwelled upon her.

Natsu was her customer last night!

"_We can share the bed, I don't mind"_

Did she really say that? She felt blood rise to her cheeks at the memory, uncertain of why she was suddenly making a big deal out of something so simple.

The truth was, she really didn't mind at all. They had slept next to each other in the past, so why would it matter now? That was what she initially thought… But when he actually slipped beneath the sheets, right there beside her, she knew she wasn't going to be able to hide the wild blush that had captured her cheeks.

Natsu seemed to have been acting like his usual self, so why did she get so flustered about something so silly? Maybe it was this mission that got her so self cautious, or…

"_Come here, I'll keep you warm."_ Remembering the fire mage saying that in an unusual, raspy voice made her heart skip a beat.

He was just being a good friend, offering her a simple favor like he would for any of their comrades. She felt utterly ridiculous for looking so deep into it, but then why where these unfamiliar, tingling sensations dancing inside her stomach at the thought of sleeping pressed against him?

"Hey." A low voice jerked her from her thoughts, and she titled her head to its source urgently.

"Oh! H-Hey!" She stuttered, mentally kicking herself for acting like some kind of a nervous idiot. This was Natsu, for crying out loud! Since when was she so anxious in front of her best friend? "Uhm, sooo… Did you sleep well?" She asked, desperate to open just about any subject, hoping it'd free her mind from these bizarre thoughts.

A long yawn escaped his lips. "Yeah, you?" The fire mage answered nonchalantly, rubbing the sleep from eyes tiredly.

"Uh, yeah…" The blonde replied thoughtfully, eyeing her relaxed partner and realizing how idiotic those new, wild ideas of hers actually were. He was acting normal, so why wouldn't she? She lowered herself down on the bed again, sighing. "So, what's your plan for today?"

The fire-mage turned to his side to face her, leaning on his elbow for support. "I guess I could try snooping around again." He replied, eyeing her from above. "I doubt it'll work, though."

"I'll try to find out more about that room you mentioned." She reasoned, though she had next to no idea how she'd go on about this new, mysterious clue. Who was she even going to ask, Fumiko? She almost laughed at the thought, remembering what the girls had told her about that wench earlier. Still, her new friends didn't seem too eager to discuss the mysteries behind this place either.

What she did know however, was that it'd take a lot more time to learn anything than Natsu was probably willing to agree on. She shifted her gaze back at him, unsure of how exactly to go on about this without causing yet another fight. "You uhm… Probably shouldn't come tonight."

He frowned down at her in confusion, leaning down slightly. He was suddenly so close, it made her insides slowly begin to act up again. "W-We'll talk tomorrow night." She stated, trying hard to focus on what she was saying rather than the fact that he was now almost hovering above her. "T-That'll give us time to actually find out something useful. "

A few moments of silence passed as his dark eyes motioned over her, making it suddenly difficult for the blonde to focus on anything but breathing. He glared down at her with an intense expression, before finally speaking. "You realize that's one more night you'll have to spend with some…"

"I know, Natsu." She interrupted him, figuring it was best to stop the conversation before it headed in that direction. "I'll be fine, just like last time."

"Even if you say that, I…" He started weakly, his voice low and tinged with concern. "I still hate it."

Lucy felt her face fall as she stared at his unusually soft expression. "I know." She whispered as she found herself lost in his gaze. The way he was looking at her made her want to melt away right there beneath him! Why was this happening to her?

Silence crawled as she waited for him to say something or at least move from their sudden intimate position.

Much to her shock, she found him suddenly leaning down towards her. Lucy let out a sharp breath and her cheeks suddenly felt incredibly hot. She knew his intent, but she simply couldn't believe her eyes.

Even so, her eyelids began to drop, slowly…

"MAI!" A loud, recognizable feminine voice came from the hallway, followed by a few knocks on the door. The two mages didn't get a proper chance to react, as the door opened, revealing Yuki who gasped in utter surprise. "Oh, I-I'm sorry!" She let out a nervous chuckle. "I was sure you were alone so I came to get you, uh…" She trailed off, but then decided it'd be better to leave it at that. She turned around urgently, mumbling another _sorry_ as she shut the door behind her.

Before Lucy could even comprehend what had just happened, she felt Natsu slowly distance himself and sat up herself, letting out a long breath. She could practically feel his own confusion radiating as she tried to find the least awkward words to break the almost suffocating silence that lingered around them.

However, the dragon slayer was the first to speak. "I, uh… I should go." He mumbled out, not looking directly at her as he got off the bed.

"Uh, yeah…" She muttered, watching him put on his scarf as he walked towards the door. "Till tomorrow night, then." She offered a weak smile, as he turned to look at her again.

"Yeah." He replied quietly with an unreadable expression on his face, before disappearing behind the door, leaving her blushing and utterly confused, with those damn butterflies still fluttering inside her stomach.

* * *

Lucy stared at the basket of fruit in front of her silently, as her new friends chatted in the background. She would've gladly joined them in their usual gossip session, but the spirit mage wasn't sure if she'd be able to form a coherent sentence. Her mind was still too baffled by what had just happened in her room for her to manage to think about anything else.

"Sooo, Mai-chan…?" Rin broke her thoughts, poking her shoulder teasingly. "Who was the handsome hunk you entertained last night?"

"Huh?" Lucy blinked. Handsome hunk? Was she talking about Natsu?

"Gosh, I wish all of our customers were that good looking!" One of the girls exclaimed with a sigh, not giving the blonde a chance to properly react. Were these girls really going to talk about Natsu in front of her?

"You sure seemed to be enjoying yourselves when I stepped in…" Yuki teased, making the others giggle in amusement. Lucy could feel her cheeks growing warm again and wondered how much of this she could take before her face turned tomato red.

"Come on, spill it!" Rin urged her on, leaning closer. "How was he?"

"Uhm…" She breathed out, trying to collect her thoughts, but found it extremely challenging with all of them staring at her in such great anticipation. What was she supposed to say exactly? "He, uhm… He was…" She tried again, forcing her mind to dig deeper and find a believable answer fast. Then suddenly, it hit her. Why should it be so hard, anyway? She just had to tell them what they wanted to hear. "Honestly? He was amazing." She stated, her lips curving into a satisfied smirk.

The girls gasped in amusement, giggling happily to each other. Yuki grinned at her, giving her a light push in the shoulder. "Give us some deets!"

"Well…" _These girls really are something else, aren't they?_ She thought with a nervous smile. She knew she'd just have to keep playing the part, but couldn't help but ask herself: what would Natsu be like? She felt her cheeks grow warmer at the thought.

"He was gentle, and sweet." She answered thoughtfully, imagining the dragon slayer in a way she never had before. "But it was hot and fierce, too." She added, remembering how passionate and determined he was in every other aspect. "It was perfect." She sighed, letting her mind slowly wander off...

"Wow, you sound like you're in love with this guy or something." Rin suddenly exclaimed, making the spirit mage almost choke on air in disbelief. _Did she just say…?_

"He sure left quite an impression, huh?" Yuki added teasingly, an amused smirk plastered on her face.

"I don't know about you guys, but… I wouldn't mind if he dropped by again!" One of the girls joked, earning sounds of approval from the others. And as her friends chuckled and continued their light chit-chatting, Lucy could only sit there in silence, with shades of pink still visible on her face, hoping this torture would end sooner than later.

This day had just started, but it had already gotten so bizarre, the blonde wasn't quite sure if she was still dreaming.

Realizing she needed something else to focus on fast, she decided to open a completely different, somewhat risky subject. "Hey, do you guys know what's in that room behind the bar?" She asked, gaining the girls attention again. "Fumiko's always creeping around there, but I've never seen anyone else enter."

The girls were immediately silenced by her statement, their expressions turning a bit too serious for the spirit-mage's liking. "Oh, that's…" Yuki started unsurely, her eyes motioning over the others, as if asking for approval to continue. "That's the owner's room."

Lucy raised her eyebrows at her reply, instantly remembering what Natsu had told her about the unusual scent coming from that room. "That's where the owner lives?"

"Yeah." Yuki nodded. "He never leaves that place."

"Look, you're better off not asking around about this guy." Rin told her earnestly, leaning towards her. "Just hope he doesn't ask for you."

"Every now and then he asks for a night with one of the girls and…" Yuki started, reading the puzzled expression on the blonde's face. "Well, we told you what happens to them…"

Lucy nodded wordlessly, deciding it'd probably be best to close the topic for the time being. She didn't want to force the girls into talking about something that could get them in trouble.

Well, more trouble than they were already in, anyway.

Still, everything she'd heard so far made absolute no sense to her at all. What in the world could have happened to the poor girls that ended up in the owner's room? And what could a weird scent only a dragon slayer could sniff out have to do with any of this?

It was almost as if… _As if this owner person isn't even human…_

"What to you think this is, a holiday inn?" A cold, all too familiar voice stopped her thought process, and the stellar mage turned to see the one person she was hoping to avoid. "Clean all of this up and start getting ready for tonight." Fumiko's sharp gray eyes motioned over them, and all the girls immediately obliged, not daring to say a word to their ferocious boss.

"A group of rail workers is in town for the night." She continued. "The place is going to be full, so you better step up your game, or else…" She didn't bother finishing her sentence, judging her point came across by the terrified looks she received.

Smirking to herself, she turned on her heel and headed back to the room they had talked about moments ago.

Lucy frowned as she stared at her leaving, before joining the others in washing up. She sighed heavily as she realized her analytic skills just had to wait to be put into action.

Another day in the brothel had officially begun.

* * *

Natsu might have gotten the best sleep in a while last night, but that certainly wasn't enough to get the dragon slayer into a particularly good mood.

As he tossed and turned in his tiny bed in Hingaro's potion shop, he just couldn't get one single, painfully distressing thought out of his mind.

_Why the hell did I have to try to kiss her?_

The fire-mage buried his head into the pillow with a heavy sigh. He felt chills rush down his spine as he remembered the moment he started leaning down towards her.

What in the world happened back there?

It was as if he was put under some kind of a spell; the sudden need to kiss her was so overwhelming, there was no way he could've managed to stop himself.

_Damn it! _He clenched his fists in utter frustration. Why did this have to happen? Why did he have to fall for her? Why couldn't it all just go back to the way it was, when he didn't have the need to hold her or kiss her every time he saw her? When he didn't spend all of his time thinking about her in a way he had never though about anyone before?

Natsu frowned at the most terrifying question his mind could bring up: Could their friendship survive this?

He couldn't be certain, but he thought it was pretty safe to say his bold action had freaked the living daylights out of her. She might not have tried to stop him, but he could tell she was uncomfortable during the awkward conversation they shared as he left. Could he blame her, though? It wasn't exactly her fault he started acting like a lunatic…

Natsu wouldn't dare even think about the possibility that she might return his feelings. There was no way she could ever want him the way he wanted her… Right?

The fire-mage shook his head at the ridiculous idea. He wouldn't let himself get caught up in wishful thinking. He had to at least preserve the little dignity he had left.

He let out another frustrated sigh as he flipped onto his back to stare at the ceiling.

This mission truly couldn't get any worse.

* * *

The blonde mage let out a long breath as she stepped out of the bath tub and quickly grabbed a towel to warm her wet body. As much as she detested the horrific place she was now working at, she had to admit, this bath was something she could get used to. It was all in white, luxurious and large and the best part was, she had it all to herself for the entire afternoon.

She ran her fingers through her damp blonde locks, enjoying these rare moments she had for herself. The spirit mage couldn't believe just how exhausting and mentally draining this mission turned out to be, considering it had next to no physical challenges so far. The constant acting and pretending, not to mention the fears of getting caught that were boiling inside her stomach continually… There was just too much at stake.

Still, the blonde would've been grateful if those were the only troubles she was facing. Blood rose to her cheeks as a particular memory flashed inside her mind…

Natsu almost kissed her! And the weirdest part was, if they hadn't been interrupted, she would've actually let him do it!

She wasn't an idiot. She knew she had started developing some sort of new, unfamiliar feelings towards the dragon slayer recently… But the only logical explanation was to accept them as a passing phase of physical attraction…

"_Wow, you sound like you're in love with this guy or something."_

The terrifying words echoed inside her head and Lucy bit her lip anxiously. In love…? With Natsu?

He was the best friend she'd ever made, the person who came into her life unexpectedly yet managed to change it forever, in the best way she could've ever imagined.

He was a bubbly, dense idiot, but he was also the bravest, most determined and loyal person she'd ever met. She knew he'd give his life to save her, and she also knew she'd do the same for him…

Could it be that the butterflies that tickled her stomach every time she was around him weren't there because of a simple, platonic crush like she had thought? Could it be that the perfect guy she had wished for for so long was right there beside her this whole time?

Her lips curved upwards as the somewhat frightening, yet undeniable truth became more and more obvious. _That idiot…_

Just then, a sharp metallic clang broke her thoughts. Something stirred inside her stomach as she heard footsteps slowly approaching her. "I-Is someone there?"

"You bet there is."

"Uh?" Lucy's eyes widened in shock as she heard a low, seemingly drunken male voice coming from the other side of the room. She swallowed hard, anxiously waiting for this mysterious figure to show, suddenly realizing the only thing she had on was a towel and there was no way she'd manage to get dressed in time before…

"Oh, look at you…" A short, bald man appeared in front of her, his dark eyes quickly motioning over her revealed skin. "You're a real cutie, aren't you?"

Lucy exhaled sharply, taking a few steps back, trying to find her voice. "I-I'm sorry sir, you're in the wrong room…"

"I don't think so…" He countered, his unfocused gaze never dropping from her exposed curves, making her skin crawl in anxiety. "I'm right where I want to be, girly…" He continued, slowly approaching her. "Come here…"

Lucy felt her bare back hit the cool wall tiles and realized she was trapped. Her first instinct was to grab her keys, but then it hit her.

Her eyes widened and she felt her whole body slowly go numb from head to toe as she remembered.

She had left her keys in her room.

"No, wait…"

"What's the problem…?" He trailed off, pressing his body against hers. "This is your job, isn't it?" He murmured against her neck line, his hands traveling down her sides, making the spirit mage tremble in disgust.

"Please…" She breathed out as she felt tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Her eyelids closed shut as she felt his hands grab her thighs firmly, sending shivers of terror down her spine. "Don't..."

"Listen up, you little slut…" He pushed her further against the wall, his voice growing louder and the vile expression on his face turned even darker. "If you keep this up, I'm gonna have to get real rough…"

The spirit mage let out a shaky breath, realizing this pervert's intentions were about to become reality if she didn't do something fast. Her mind raced as she desperately tried to figure out a way to save herself from the horror that was about to go down, but the truth was there was no way to physically overpower him, and without her magic…

She felt one of his arms travel to the curve of her breasts, and let out a sharp breath. Her mind was in a turmoil, unable to accept the fact that this was actually happening to her, yet terrified that it was getting more and more real by the second. Was it really going to end like this?

Suddenly, an image of a certain dragon slayer flashed before her eyes. _Natsu…_

"S-stop it!" She screamed out as one of his mischievous hands tried to slip underneath her towel.

"Be quiet."

"L-let me go…" She whimpered, tears streaming down her face as she squirming beneath him, her hands desperately trying to push him away. "Uh…"

"SAI!" A loud male voice suddenly echoed through the room. "Get your drunken ass back here, the boss is calling us…"

The man grunted angrily. "Can't you see I'm busy, you bastard?" He snapped back at his companion as the other man appeared in front of them.

"Leave it for tonight!" He replied frustratedly. "Come on, move it! Or do you want the boss going crazy again?"

"Damn it!" Sai growled out, finally pulling away from the spirit mage. Before he joined his companion, he turned to look at her one last time. "Don't think you've seen the last of me, girly." He smirked smugly, before finally disappearing from her sight.

Lucy swallowed pass the lump in her throat as she listened to their footsteps leaving the room, unaware that she had fallen to her knees. Tears kept pouring down her pale cheek as she tried to compose herself.

She buried her head into her knees, gripping her towel as the disturbing images came back to her in a flash, causing her skin to crawl in disgust.

The still rational part of her frazzled mind kept trying to convince her just how lucky she was that all of this ended up the way it did, but somehow, not even that could make her feel better.

The stellar mage would sit on the cool bathroom floor for hours, unable to rid herself of the memories of her worst nightmare coming true.

**To be continued….**

* * *

**A/N: **There are two things I need to apologize for! First, for the fact that I took ages to update this time. I'm REALLY SORRY! I won't bore you with excuses; I can only promise I'll try to be a little more productive next time.

Second! I know a lot of you asked me not to let anything bad happen to Lucy. Well… I'm sorry I couldn't exactly oblige, although I had originally planned on writing something more explicit so I think this is acceptable... Wouldn't you agree?

The story now has an official cover, as you can see! The lovely Vauny-chan Loves Art is behind the awesome image, so check out more of her art (the link to her deviantart is on my profile). I encourage all of you artist out there to draw your own version if you'd like to, that'd be awesome!

THANK YOU all again for your wonderful reviews and for being such amazing readers! I hope you're not too mad at me!

Take care everyone! xo


	5. Two Hearts, One Mind

_Chapter 5_: Two Hearts, One Mind

Natsu rolled his eyes as he heard the old potion maker call out to him, exclaiming that dinner had been served. The dragon slayer found it hard to believe that he was actually starting to get used to this old shop. He even grew accustom to the tiny bed he spent his long nights in. It shouldn't, however come as a surprise to the young mage as it had been a week since he had arrived into this damned town. _A week already._

Natsu hated missions that took too long to accomplish. He also hated missions where his own contribution was minimal next to nonexistent, as it happened to be now. Combine those to, and Natsu was sure he had never had to deal with anything nearly as irritable as this damn quest the potion maker sent them on. Which was partly why the dragon slayer delayed any kind of encounter with the old geezer.

Still, Natsu knew his bad mood had little to do with the length of the mission, their client, or even the fact that he was lying on this tiny bed doing absolutely nothing. His dark temper had a little more to do with a certain blonde spirit mage, who just happened to be his partner and best friend.

Four days had passed since he had last seen her or spoken to her. At certain moments, the dragon slayer had difficulty believing he actually obliged her requests and managed to stay away from her, rather than run off to see her and discover what in the world was going on in that hell hole.

The fire mage reminded himself to take a deep breath every time he experienced one of those moments, as he recalled his visit from Loke the other day.

"_Lucy thinks it would be best to take a few days to investigate before you meet again." The Leo said with an unreadable, serious expression. _

"_But she said to meet her tonight!" The fire mage countered quickly, his eyebrows narrowing in confusion. _

"_She said she hadn't managed to get new info and that your meeting would only risk getting caught." _

"_B-but-"_

"_Natsu, there's no point in seeing each other if you have nothing to report." Loke sighed tiredly, and the dragon slayer couldn't help but notice his former guild mate was acting somewhat unusual. "She said she'd send me again to come for you when she found out something worth meeting over."_

"_I don't care about the goddamned info, or about that stupid brothel, or about getting caught!" Natsu heard himself growl out, his voice louder than intended. He took a deep breath, desperately trying to calm his nerves. "Loke, I need to see her, she…-"_

_A hint of a smirk appeared on the lion spirit's static expression. "She's fine." He said quietly, though his tone gave the impression he didn't quite believe in that himself. "She told me to tell you not to worry. She can take care of herself."_

"_I know that, I just…" Natsu sighed desperately, unsure if he was acting reasonable. "I really need to see her."_

_Loke nodded slightly, but it seemed the celestial spirit couldn't find the words to encourage him. "I'll come for you in a few days." He promised after a short pause, turning to the door slowly. "Till then, try to find out as much as you can. And don't worry so much, it's not like you."_

It wasn't like him. None of this was like him at all, yet somehow, he got himself in this position where he couldn't even decide what was right and what was wrong. He knew he was being a good friend and comrade for trusting her instead of running off on his own, but a huge, ever growing part of him just wanted to see her. He needed to see if she was really alright…

And if that wasn't enough, his mind managed to find new ways to torture him.

He tried to kiss her! He actually tried to kiss Lucy! He still had a hard time accepting that he'd let his control slip like that, but what confused him even more was… Something he didn't dare let himself think about, yet somehow the thought kept coming back to his tormented mind.

She didn't stop him.

Natsu replayed the scene in his head about a thousand times and every singe time he just had to stoop and ask himself… Was she really about to let him kiss her?

The thought scared him almost as much as it excited him. He couldn't really let himself hope that she could ever feel that way about him, but… The Lucy he knew would have slapped him so hard he'd probably fly off the bed.

The Lucy he knew wouldn't have closed her eyes and let him lean towards her until…

_Damn it._ If he kept thinking about their little moment in the intimacy of her bed, he'd have to get one of those icy cold showers that seemed to have been taking up a lot of his time recently.

Fuck. This wasn't good. How was he even going to manage being near her after all of this? Was this the end of their partnership? Was their friendship over? Natsu knew that would be the end of him.

He sighed desperately before rolling off the bed, realizing he might as well fill his stomach instead of moping around pointlessly.

The light afternoon breeze caressed her skin as she leaned onto the window, desperately trying to take her mind off her usual daily troubles. To say that it didn't quite work would have been an understatement, as the celestial spirit mage suddenly closed the window swiftly, before stumbling onto the bed behind her.

Lucy raised her eyebrows as she heard a feminine voice from the hallway, but her lips soon curved into a small smile as she realized it belonged to Yuki, one of her dearest friends from the brothel. She wondered how the girls, her friends and colleagues managed to stay so positive while working in such a dark, cruel place. She wondered if she would have grown accustom to all of this if she had spent a year in this place, like them?

The blonde mage almost shook her head at the thought. She couldn't imagine ever accepting this kind of destiny, not after what she'd seen or heard… Or what she had experienced first hand.

"_What's the problem… This is your job, isn't it?"_

"_Listen up you little slut…" His hot breath was all over her exposed skin, his hands traveling over the parts of her body nobody else had ever touched. She could feel the towel hanging around her body was about to drop and leave her naked and exposed… _

Lucy couldn't believe her eyes were filled with tears as those disturbing scenes finally left her mind. Was she ever truly going to be able to rid herself of these terrible memories? After this torture of a mission was finally completed and they got back home, to Fairy Tail… Would things really go back to the way they were? Was she ever going to be the same Lucy from before?

After the fateful encounter with Sai, Lucy spent the rest of that day trying to compose herself the best way she could, before night came and she saw the beast again. Of course, the railway worker demanded for her as his group came for the much anticipated brothel visit, and Fumiko was more than happy to oblige her guest's wishes.

As he appeared on her doorstep, his expression even drunker and more disturbing than a few hours ago, Lucy wasted no time in calling out Taurus. She wouldn't risk a mere second if it meant being alone with the monster. She couldn't help but order the bull spirit to be a little tougher with him, though she kept reminding herself he still needed to be in one piece when the night was over.

As she forced the magic potion on the motionless customer, she realized a sleepless night was ahead of her as she simply couldn't bring herself to go to sleep in the same room as the guy who almost raped her. She curled up into her sheets and called out Loke, desperately needing someone to talk to.

It took Lucy hours to convince the Leo that what had happened to her wasn't his fault. And even though she hadn't quite managed to prove her point, she decided to drop the subject and open a new one.

"_Loke, listen." She said in a serious voice, her spirit jerking from his troubled thoughts. "I need you to… Go to Natsu tomorrow."_

_Lucy knew she couldn't bear seeing him so soon after… After the incident she had in the baths. She knew he'd see something was wrong with her, he'd be able to somehow read her thoughts… And the blonde mage understood perfectly that if the dragon slayer were to find out about this, all hell would break loose._

"_You have to tell him he can't come to see me for a few days." She finally exclaimed, but quickly reminded herself that Natsu, of all people, wasn't one to be easily convinced. "Tell him I need more time…" She started explaining and Loki patiently listened to his summoner's instructions. "He can't come until I call him." She finally stated._

"_I'll try my best, but you know how he is…"_

_The blonde nodded, hoping her spirit and friend was going to be successful in his task._

The last thing she needed in this chaos was a surprise visit from her partner, as much as she actually wanted to see him. And she did.

Lucy knew that the only thing that was keeping her sane over the past few days was the fact that she had the fire mage to lean on. And also, every now and then, her mind would wander off and she'd remember the moment she almost experienced her first kiss. She felt blood rise to her cheeks at the thought, and felt utterly ridiculous for getting embarrassed over a mere kiss after everything she'd been through…

Still, this was Natsu… Lucy even caught herself wishing she could experience that moment again, only this time, their lips would actually meet…

The spirit mage mentally slapped herself for having those wild thoughts. Then again, it was him that tried to kiss her, and now that she knew how she felt about him, there really was no reason to…

Except there was. The mission, the reason they were stuck in this mess in the first place. It had been almost a week since they had gotten to this godforsaken town, and they only managed to get two clues that brought them next to nowhere near resolving this huge riddle.

An unnatural scent… And girls mysteriously disappearing… Was this person really a mage like the old potion maker had said? If so, why was Natsu able to sniff out something so unique about him? And what could have possibly happened to the poor girls that ended up in that room of his?

Lucy felt her head starting to turn as she repeatedly asked herself the same old questions. She knew analyzing wasn't going to bring her anywhere, she needed to get into that room now…

A few knocks on the door jerked her from her thoughts and her attention immediately shifted to the girl that had entered.

"Hey, Mai chan…" Rin closed the door behind her. "Dinner's ready, plus we should all start getting ready so I thought I'd get you…"

"Oh yeah, let's go…" Lucy got up lazily. She sighed, thinking how she could use a night off, not having to worry about knocking out some pervert or sleeping beside an unconscious, but still potential rapist. However, she quickly reminded herself she was far better off than the rest of the "Sticky Sweets" employees.

With that thought in mind, she glanced over to her colleague, only to notice the girl was visibly worried about something, as she bit her lip anxiously while staring at the floor. "Uh, Rin-chan? What's wrong?"

The brunette blinked in confusion, titling her head to the spirit mage. "Oh, well…" She started unsurely. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath before continuing. "Look, you didn't hear this from me, but… It's said that the owner is going to ask for one of the girls tomorrow. And it could be anyone of us…"

Lucy's eyes widened at her statement. She swallowed hard, unsure of how to react to this news in front of her friend. She understood perfectly how frightening this fact was for Rin and the others, as well how frightening it should be for Mai.

Lucy, on the other hand, fought the urge to smile for the first time in days. This was her chance. This was the one shot she had at ending this chaos.

She could only hope the owner had a thing for blondes.

Natsu slammed the door of the last bar he was able to sniff out, making his way out of the tiny street he wounded up in. He spent most of the day snooping around and yet somehow, he was still no where close to finding any kind of clue what so ever.

It was strange, though. This was a small town, small enough for everybody to be in everybody's business. Natsu found it hard to believe that not a single soul was able to tell him anything about the one man that seemed to run the entire place. It was either that they really didn't know, or they were too scared… Or maybe it was both?

_Fuck this._

The fire mage had just about enough of guessing, snooping and waiting on something to happen on its own. He was more of a man of action, after all.

Before he even knew where he was headed, he found himself in front of the one place he knew he should have visited long ago.

"Sticky Sweets" seemed as lively as ever.

Natsu let out a long breath before grabbing the door handle and entering the hall. His eyes quickly motioned over the place, only to realize it was far more crowded than a few days ago. His mind instantly panicked as he realized that could mean Lucy was already…

"Why, hello there." A well-known, raspy voice jerked him from his thoughts. "You seem quite familiar." The women smirked at him from the bar.

_Not this old wench again_. "Right. I… " Natsu trailed off, letting himself get distracted by the scent that came from the room behind her. He could still feel it so strongly. If he could just take a quick look, or at least get a bit closer…

"We're almost full for the night." She spoke again, raising her voice to capture his attention. "You better take your pick."

"Yes, I…" The dragon slayer realized he might have a huge problem on his hands. What if Lucy was already taken? The thought made him cringe. "Is… Is Mai available?"

"Hm, let me check…" She smirked, lowering her eyes onto her book. She pursed her lips as she ran through the pages, and Natsu felt like he was experiencing the longest moments of his life. "Ha, it seems you're in luck. Again."

Natsu let out a sigh of relief, but then instantly regretted it, hoping his action didn't seem too suspicious to the old hag.

"You know, we do have a lot of other girls here, too." She said, raising her eyebrows at his terrified expression. Her lips curved into a twisted, seductive smirk. "More experienced girls…"

Natsu swallowed hard, his mind racing at the outrageous statement. "I… I'll just stick with Mai…"

"It's your choice." She shrugged, turning back to her book to write something down, as Natsu dropped the cash on the desk. The women's expression seemed to have lit up slightly at the sight of the money as she looked him straight in the eyes. "Enjoy your stay."

Natsu nodded and tried not to get out of her sight as fast as he felt the need to, figuring he'd already managed to seem suspicious enough. He tried to ignore the strong urge to turn around and storm into that damn room, and focused on the fact that he was about to see the one person he came here for. The one person that made all of this worth it.

The fire mage felt his heart skip a beat as he found himself in front of room 32. He was anxious to open the door and reveal his partner, yet a part of him was still hesitant. Maybe she actually didn't want to see him? What if he was wrong all along about her not stopping him a few days ago? Maybe she was actually just freaked out and…

Natsu shook his head and reminded himself nothing good ever came from over thinking. With one last deep breath, he grabbed the door handle and proceeded into the room.

Lucy instantly dropped the hairbrush she was holding. "N-Natsu?" The blond breathed out, her eyes widening at the sight oh her partner. Her mind immediately started to panic as she took a few steps backwards until she hit the bed behind her. "What are you…?"

"Doing here?" He finished her sentence, raising his eyebrows. "The better question is why am I only here now."

Lucy swallowed hard. His intense expression made it impossible for her to come up with a response. She knew him showing up was anything but according to her plan, but seeing him felt so right, she suddenly felt the need to hug him, bury her head into his chest and feel his heat around her.

Instead, she sat on the bed and sighed deeply.

"I'm sorry I told you not to come." She finally confessed, raising her gaze onto his somewhat softened expression. The look he was giving her, the dark orbs that held such tenderness woke something deep inside her. She tensed, realizing she would have a hard time pulling this off. "I just… I…"

"Lucy?" The fire mage stepped closer, and she couldn't bring herself to look up at him, scared what it might trigger next. The effects of that "incident" were still haunting her. How could she have thought for a second she'd be able to hide it from Natsu?

"Look, if this is about what happened… Well, almost happened…" She narrowed her eyebrows in confusion as he trailed off, unsure of what he was suddenly referring to. " I'm so sorry if I scared you…"

Her chocolate orbs quickly shifted onto his, unsure if she had heard this right. Was he… Was he actually worried that he was the reason behind her behavior? That the fact that he tried to kiss her made her act this way?

Lucy bit her lip, unsure of how much more of this she could take. "Natsu…It's not… Like that." She managed to utter, swallowing past the lump in her throat. She could feel him getting nearer but managed to avoid eye contact.

"What is it then?" He asked in a low voice, as his hand started lightly caressing her arm. "Luce, it's me." She shivered against his touch, at his words, yet still couldn't bring herself to look at him, knowing it would all be over if she did.

"Hey." He muttered, raising his hand to her chin. "Look at me." He turned her head to face him.

The spirit mage felt a single tear make its way down her cheek as she slowly shifted her eyes onto him. Her lower lip trembled as she watched his expression turn startled.

Her mind was screaming at her, telling her to assure him that everything was fine and to stick with her plan, but her lips wouldn't listen. "Natsu, I…" She started weakly, tears rolling down her cheek, her heart pounding so loud she was sure he could hear it too.

"What?" He asked desperately, his voice and features tingled with genuine concern.

"I was almost…" She swallowed hard, then took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eyes. "I was almost raped."

**To be continued… **

A/N: Shall we just skip the part where I apologize for not updating in more than 2 months? I do have legitimate reasons for taking so damn long, but I'm not going to bore you with them. I can almost guarantee you won't have to wait for a chapter this long ever again. Then again, I haven't proven myself to be very trustworthy when it comes to update promises…

ANYWAY, how'd you like chapter 5? I know there was minimal NaLu action, but trust me, the real thing is yet to come!

Again, THANK YOU SOOO MUCH for your reviews, for favoriting and following and just all around supporting the story. It means so much!

I really hope you enjoyed this one! Buh-buy, y'all!

xoxoxo


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